Energy Authority: Approval conditionally for National Natural Gas System Operator’s 10-year development program

The revised ten-year development program of National Natural Gas System Operator – DESFA for the period 2022-2031 is expected to receive conditional approval from the Plenary Session of the Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE). A source of friction, according to information, is the transfer by the Administrator of the schedule for upgrading the Compressor Station in Komotini, the completion of which, instead of 2023, is now pegged for October 2024.

DESFA, taking into account the needs of both the Greek market and the strengthening of flows to neighboring countries – such as to Bulgaria, through the IGB pipeline – proceeded to revise the design of the specific compressor, increasing its power to 12.5 MW, in three units, including the required relative operational reserve. In fact, it foresees the possibility of further upgrading it in order to meet any future market needs by increasing the circulating quantity of natural gas to 17.5 MW.

It is no coincidence that DESFA officials describe as urgent the approval of the revised Ten-Year Development Program (DP) of the period 2022-2031 (it was put to a short ten-day consultation last month), given the energy crisis and the efforts to ensure energy supply. However, in the new DP, the completion time of the Komotini compressor upgrade project is postponed by one year. As circles of the Administrator emphasize, the revision concerns the Ten-Year Program that DESFA had submitted to RAE in June 2021 and its approval was pending. And they add: “As long as it was pending, the investment program could not start. That’s why the schedule changed.”

The meeting

In any case, as well-informed sources point out, in a meeting held last week in the Parliament (on the sidelines of the debate on the Ministry of the Interior’s multi-bill) between the heads of the Ministry of Environment and Energy Mr. Kostas Skrekas, the RAE Mr. Athanasios Dagoumas and of DESFA Ms. Rita Gali, pressure was exerted by the political leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Market Regulator to the managing director of the Operator so that the upgrade of the compression station will proceed quickly, as it is considered a critical infrastructure, in view of the start of operation of the 2023 of the floating Liquefied Natural Gas Receiving, Storage and Gasification Unit (FSRU) in Alexandroupolis. However, according to the DESFA administration, there are obstacles with the supply of technical equipment.

It is noted that DESFA has already submitted a request for the inclusion of the future increase in the capacity of the particular compressor in the 2022 Ten-Year Network Development Plan (TYNDP), responding to the relevant invitation of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas / ENTSO-G.

In fact, according to the new DP, the further upgrade of the Komotini Compressor is planned to be included in the REPowerEU list so that receives European funding, as it is a project of particular regional interest since it will increase the export potential to the Balkan countries where Russian gas flows have been interrupted. The project budget is estimated at 50 million euros, while the total investments of the new DP amount to 855.7 million euros from 830 million euros foreseen in the previous plan of June 2021.